The communication industry is rapidly changing and offers a wide variety of new products and services. The number of different services and the volume of information available to consumers and business users continues to grow on almost an exponential basis. At the same time, rapid improvements are being made in telephone equipment and communication systems. The cellular telephone, facsimile machine, and modem, that are offered for sale today, may be obsolete within a short period of time. Several companies are proposing elaborate communication networks using telephone wires, satellites, fiber optic cables, radio waves and advanced electronic devices which will allow worldwide communication from a telephone.
Significant problems associated with the rapidly expanding number of different information services and data bases and the different types of new equipment include the wide variety of media formats, the lack of interchangeability both in hardware and software, and the need for continuous operator training. Frequently, highly valuable information can become obsolete and of no value if it is not quickly and easily understood by the user. Also, each information service and each new piece of equipment generally has a different format for presenting information to the user or for accepting information from the user. The lack of standardization in equipment, format display, operating procedures, and input/output devices results in substantially limiting the scope, accessibility, and value of potentially available information.
Special purpose radio transmitters and receivers are used for selected information such as the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration weather reports or commercial information from the Dow-Jones news service. These special information services frequently require a dedicated, specifically tuned radio receiver and transmitter. These systems and their related equipment are generally limited to the special service for which they were originally designed and have highly restricted information sources and formats.
Another problem is maintaining security of the data bases and allowing only authorized access to selected information. Present telecommunication systems tend to rely upon time consuming verification procedures with identification numbers, code numbers, etc. to prevent fraud and use of stolen equipment and information.
Another problem with present systems is that the transmission bandwidth for today's telephone systems (audio, digital tone, and rotary pulses) is insufficient for delivery of multi-media information to consumers in a timely, coherent manner. Cellular and mobile phones have been available for some time; however, they are generally limited to only audio input and output. Cellular phones generally have a traditional mechanical or electrical numerical keypad. In order to update a cellular telephone as improved technology becomes available, the old cellular phone must be replaced with a new cellular telephone.
Various devices for use with personal computers, e.g., Wizard.RTM. by Sharp.RTM., are offered to improve user productivity. These devices generally do not provide for two-way interactive communication with a remote source similar to telephones. They generally require a multiple wire cable between the personal productivity device and the personal computer. They frequently require batch uploads and batch downloads of data with no modem capability. The personal productivity devices generally have an input and output capability limited to the available small keypad. Audio input and output is generally not available and little or no graphic information capability is provided.
While prior telephone systems have worked satisfactorily, as new communication networks are established and information data bases rapidly increase, a need for instant customer verification and identification will become more important. Teaching consumers the operating procedures for new equipment and new software packages presents a significant limitation to full use and commercial success of these new communication and information systems. It will also be necessary to send the maximum amount of information in the shortest possible time period to allow more communication over limited frequency spectrums.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a communication system with enhanced capability for data handling (storage, retrieval, and transmission), secure two-way communication when desired, and enhanced information presentation along with an easy to operate and understand communication device.